Isolation
by Heatwave222
Summary: With the unexpected arrival of the UNSC and Covenant, the Galactic Civil War takes a completely different turn after the destruction of the first Death Star. A turn that will change the face of the galaxy forever. OCs and already established characters. AU.
1. Solitary Confinement

Isolation

Chapter I: Solitary Confinement 

Authors Note: Well, this is my first real crack at Halo and Star Wars crossover. It's still a work in progress, I'm just kind of taking it one step at time. So I hope my attempt will end crafting a great fan fiction story.

Both fatigue and stress, when elevated enough, can bring any sentient being to its breaking point. Mix the two together, and you get a powerful remedy that would make the body want to shut down and simply die. That's what the young rebel, Zerrid Ryen, felt like doing, shutting down and dying. The simplicity of it was all to mind melding and beautiful. Yet, life wasn't about what you wanted, or how to make it easy on yourself. At least that's what Zerrid kept thinking to stop himself from having a complete meltdown in the Alliance's command center. Which in turn was bustling with bodies of all assorts going to and from. Carrying out tasks of all kinds varying in importance of small to large. Zerrid knew he was tired, he could feel his face sag down from the lack of sleep. In the past twenty-four hours, he had received a total of three hours and twenty six minutes of sleep, give or take a few minutes. Stimulants had become his best friend by keeping him awake while he performed his duties. If he wasn't injecting another stimulant into himself, then he was at work or trying to get a few minutes of sleep. The lives of everyone on this planet demanded it of him.

The Empire was right on top of them, literally. He had reports filing in of hostile engagements on all fronts. Rebel forces had actively engaged the imperial storm troopers that had come for revenge on them for the destruction of the death star. Zerrid knew the rebel fighters could delay the storm troopers, but not stop them. The enemy had come in waves of troops, and with no way of being able to get reinforcements; it was only a matter of time before they were all dead due to the imperial blockade around Yavin 4. And because of this, time was something of which they didn't have a lot of. General Jan Dodonna had called in the order of planet wide evacuation. It had been declared several days ago, but there was so much to do. Trying to evacuate an entire planet within days was consuming all of their resources.

Zerrid shook his head accidentally breaking his train of thought. He needed to concentrate, keep his mind on his duties. His duty was to dispatch several units and squads of Alliance troops to key areas and provide intelligence to them. Zerrid also took on the task of surveying enemy troop deployment. Everyone was doubling up on responsibilities, including him. Trying to shift in his seat, his earpiece blared to life with static, and then he heard a human voice.

"_Dispatch_!" The voice cried out. Zerrid could hear blaster fire in the background. "_This is Delta-One-Two, we have hostiles at checkpoint one_!"

Zerrid moved his hands so fluidly onto the holo-screen in front of him. Tapping in rapid commands, his scanner pinpointed Delta-One-Two's location. Life signs flashed before his eyes as he continued to analyze the data in the blink of an eye. Adjusting his earpiece, he spoke crisply and smoothly as if there was no possibility of the other man on the line could die at any moment.

"Delta-One-Two, I have you on radar. Your defenses are being probed, and that is just a scout team. The scans show a larger force moving in. Flanking teams inbound with a squadron of troopers moving up the middle. I'm diverting nearby units to your location."

"_Thanks Dispatch. Delta-One-Two out_."

Zerrid didn't respond. He didn't have the time. After the communication link was severed, he checked the holo-screen for the rebel force deployment. Zerrid's cold, steel blue eyes darted around the display checking the statuses of other units nearby Delta-One-Two's position.

"Alpha-One-Six, this is dispatch. Delta-One-Two has several squadrons of storm troopers moving in on checkpoint one. Move to their position to lend a hand, over."

Static crackled in his ear. "_We copy dispatch. Alpha-One-Six moving to support, over_."

Zerrid rubbed the stubble on his face; his thoughts now back to himself. "Hopefully that'll buy them some time."

The object wasn't to win, it was to hold out as long as possible. They still had a lot of personnel that needed to be transported. Including himself, but he wouldn't abandoned these men, if they were out there risking their lives, then he would do the same for them.

Reaching into his pocket for another stimulant, but his holo-screen grew an angry red as a small message blipped onto the top corner of his screen. Zerrid's hand fiddled around with the stimulant as he ripped his hand out of his pocket, adrenaline pumping through his veins. His fingers drifted across the display, trying to figure out what the alarm was. Every time he accessed the alarm to find out the source of the problem, he got 'unidentified error'. Zerrid gritted his teeth in frustration. He'd have to go through scanners and systems manually to try and detect the quandary. What in reality was only thirty seconds, felt like several minutes. But the thirty seconds to find the problem, was nerve wrecking. He needed the stimulant bad, but it had to wait. Eyes glued to the holo-screen as he absorbed the data being fed. Sensors were picking up something, but from the data, the conclusion didn't make sense.

The screen was telling him something rather large was coming out of what seemed to be hyper-space. But common knowledge and reality was telling him different. When a ship entered hyper-space, it basically left this plane of reality. Breaking past faster than the speed of light's threshold, it was almost impossible to track, or even communicate with a ship in hyper-space, mainly because it didn't exist, in a sense. The only way to even communicate with a ship in hyper-space was to communicate indirectly. The ship couldn't pick up direct signals, but it could pick up weak signals that crossed its path during hyper travel, but it wasn't a normal comm signal, but a hypercomm. But even then it wasn't a proper means of communication, the messages always ended up distorted and corrupted to almost being useless. But, it didn't mean ships in hyper-space were impossible to tell when they entered or leaving hyper-space. Whenever a vessel entered or exited hyper space and was on an axis perpendicular to the real space's vector the hyper drive emitted a vigorous, but short burst of Cronau radiation.

The difficulty with this was, a sensor had picked up something supposedly dropping out of 'hyperspace'. However, when he scanned for Cronau radiation, the readings came back negative for it. This meant, the sensor had locked in on something resembling close to hyper space travel. Something that discharged a burst of signals like Cronau radiation. Zerrid continued to reevaluate his findings, refusing to believe what he was seeing, thinking it must be the sensor going haywire. Zerrid had also ruled out light speed travel, which sensors would detect, and let him know it was light speed, not hyper-speed. His brain was nonetheless boggled. Zerrid couldn't explain, and didn't have time. From what his figures were telling him, the ship would be dropping right into orbit on a high speed approach vector.

Whatsoever, he had managed to shed some light on this phenomenon. The vessel on advance was moving faster than the speed of light but slower than hyper-speed. He frowned, his humor tightly sealed away. It made him more stressed he couldn't figure this out. He cued his earpiece on a direct line to General Dodonna.

"General, this is Zerrid Ryen. We have a problem."

"_What sort of problem are you talking about_?" The husky voice of the aging man retorted.

Zerrid swallowed the knot in his throat; he wasn't exactly sure how to explain the happening. "Sensors in orbit picked up something."

Static lingered for another second. "_Imperial reinforcements? Ships inbound to hassle us more_?"

"Negative, I don't think it's imperial. It's very odd, sir." Zerrid spat out, he could already feel a lashing on his way.

"_Please elaborate_."

Zerrid's frown only grew in size. He could tell Dodonna wasn't all too pleased. "Sensors said a vessel was dropping out of hyper-space soon. But when I checked for Cronau radiation to isolate its incoming vector, I got nothing for Cronau."

Silence met his ear, which made him curdle in anticipation. The silence seemed worse than getting a verbal lashing. "_Have you verified it's not light speed either_?"

"Affirmative. Sensors show nothing matching speed of light. Whatever the vessel is, it's moving faster than light speed, but slower than hyper-speed."

"_You're absolutely sure about this? Can you tell me its drop point? How long do we have_?"

Zerrid didn't have the exact answer of what was going on, but he did have those answers. "Yes, I'm positive, sir. I was still able to get its drop out point. Baring zero-three-four, right into our orbit. It's coming out in ten seconds."

"_Can you get a visual on it_?"

Zerrid was already on it. He pumped more adrenaline into himself diminishing the fatigue. Locking onto the nearest sensor, he took manual control of it. Rerouting systems to turn on its visuals and reposition its view to where the vessel was to appear. Typing in more commands, he sent the visual over the general. Zerrid rubbed his neck, nerves rubbed against one another as the final seconds slowly counted down.

Three…

Two..

One.

Then it happened. Zerrid was in awe as he watched a vessel appear before his eyes. The foreign object just peeled into his vision. Exiting whatever method of travel it used, it was similar to hyper-space. Space itself seemed to bend and open a portal beyond human comprehension. The inky darkness was discolored and warped to a blinding white. Then a grey color peeled in by strips, as if someone was drawing it in faster than the human or any species eye could keep up with. When the vessel was fully visible, it was less than what Zerrid had imagined. The ship resembled an Imperial-class star destroyer, only in shape. It was nothing in comparison to the star destroyer in size. The ship was still vastly large compared to other war ships known, but that was just it. He didn't recognize the design of the ship at all. Having the sensor probe it, it concluded what Zerrid already knew. It matched no galactic design or pattern.

"General, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Zerrid spoke into his comm. He knew the general was seeing it; he just wanted to confirm if he understood what he saw as well. Zerrid was no judge, but the anonymous craft was torn and beat to hell. Battle scars ran across the exterior hull. His eye pointed out what looked like scorch marks from extreme heat, and even one burn mark stretching across the hull. Even without being familiar with the craft, he could tell it had seen extensive combat. If it looked this wrecked and tattered on the outside, he could only envision what the inside looked like.

"_I am. It's in one hell of a condition. Is it showing any signs of activity_?"

Zerrid halted for a moment, activating the sensors once more. The ship was showing several hundred, if not close to one-thousand life signs. Zerrid assumed the ship had a much bigger crew, but had suffered heavy casualties. As he continued to read the ship, he watched as several pods jettison from the side of the ship, and more continued to abandon the ship as it started to near Yavin's atmosphere.

"Sir, scans show close to one-thousand if not more life forms on the ship. Seems they have escapes pods going off from the ship. Also, the craft is entering Yavin's atmosphere, it'll be crashing into the surface."

He could hear Dodonna grumble on the other line. "_Son, I need you to find out where those life pods will be crashing, and divert teams to get them. We'll have to leave the ship, we don't have the man power to search it or fight over it either. Scan the ship for as much information as you can. Just make sure we get the life pods. Dodonna out_."

Zerrid gave his confirmation, and sent out the orders. Knowing full well that diverting teams would cause the defense to falter even more, but with this new event, maybe the Empire would pull back the main strike force. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, he could feel hit gut start to twist and knot up. He didn't get this feeling often, but when it did, it was bad. Something was occurring in the galaxy, and Zerrid Ryen wasn't sure if it was for better or worse.

5

Pain surged throughout his body. Bones burned as if they had been set on fire. Every inch of his being screamed to just end it all now. To find some means to escape the ensuing agony. Breathing alone made him wreath in pain, which caused his sore muscles on his face to tense and throb even more. It seemed like hours past as he felt liquid trickle down his face and drip from his chin. Senses started to slowly return to him as he could taste warm, metallic liquid in his mouth. Neck muscles twitched as he tried to move. His movement was more on survival instinct, than his actual thoughts, as a shroud of grogginess clouded his mind. Fingers convulsed and jolted, waves of intense pain continued to ripple his body.

The cloud in his mind seemed to disperse more and more as time went on. He could feel globs of spit and blood exit his mouth as he coughed. Deep breathes ravished his lungs as it became harder to breath, feeling a sense of urgent danger and death creeping upon him. Broken and bruised ribs seem to mend together a collage of inhuman aches and tenderness that caused the man to groan. Eyelids started to crack open, only to be forced shut by his body telling him to shut down and let death's sweet embrace swallow him. The man had never been much to lie down and die. Grunting, he ripped his eyelids open and kept them open.

A sting formed in his eyeballs, his surroundings blurred and seemed to shift out of reality as his eyes shifted. Focusing, the environment fit itself back together like a puzzle. The cloud of distortion faded from his brain as it registered to what his eyes saw. His knees and legs that were covered in fatigues and armor: the cameo green of his military and dark black boots. He blinked and shook his head as his eyes stung more once he allowed them to open again. He lifted his head, absorbing more of his surroundings. He was in a small pod; a clash of bland gray enveloped him. Then he noticed the bodies. None of them moving, not even making a sound.

His senses screamed at him to help them, to see if they were still alive. He try to get up, but jerked back into his seat, a harness keeping him bound to the seat. He lifted his right bleeding arm, but not before the air in his lungs was pushed out from the pain. He clicked down on the button, and yet nothing happened. The harness had twisted its frame and now had him trapped with the thick straps holding him down. His eyes scanned his body, looking for something that might be of use to help free him. He came up empty.

Blood endlessly dribbled from his chin, and a pounding headache started to form in his head. So many thoughts ran through his mind all in a matter of seconds. Where was he? What had happened? How were the occupants around him? How was he going to unbind himself? Hell, he couldn't even remember his own name for the time being so much was on his mind. Turning his head to the left he found himself making contact with the back of a seat at the tip of the pod. Another motionless body drooped over a console, concealing it from him guessing what he was exactly in. Swinging his aching neck to the right, he found a frozen body sitting next to him, limp as the others. Growling in agony, he lifted his ever bleeding arm, and placed his cut and dirtied fingers on the man's neck. There was no pulse.

Sighing, he looked down the corpse, noticing the fatigues and armor, a memory deluged into him. The UNSC, a military power, well not so much of a power as it once was, but it was regaining strength from the Human-Covenant War. The UNSC also happened to be his current employer, but he had to figure out one thing at a time, or so he kept telling himself. Scanning the body, he found the key to his survival, a combat knife. Grasping the hilt, he ripped the weapon from its holding place.

Taking the hilt, he placed the blade on the first strap, and took his other hand and held the strap away from his body so he didn't cut himself. The blade grinded against the strap, the material cut away slowly and surely, until it broke. He then repeated the process until he had liberated himself from the harness. Gritting his teeth, he forced his tendons and muscles to work as one and allow him to stand. His legs felt like jelly as the world rushed around him. Bracing himself with the palm of his hand on the opposite wall above another man, he released vomit from his mouth, littering the wall, the floor and the bodies around him with the contents of his stomach.

An additional urge to vomit ran through his throat, only to be forced down by what little will power he had left in his battered body. Dropping the knife, he wobbled from side to side, and he ran through the bodies in the pod, checking each one's pulse. Everyone else was now deceased, and hoped they enjoyed the eternal peace he hoped they will have. Pushing his legs forward, each step more and more painful, he reached the door blocking his path. It slid open automatically, exhaling in relief, taking the small miracle. He just didn't think he'd have the strength to manually open and pry the door open.

Stumbling outside, his eyes burned and were blinded by a ray of sunlight that sent him tripping over his feet and meeting the ground face first. The man laid there, unmoving, his brain pumping and trying to process information as fast it could in his weaken state. He felt so lost, and the lost feeling felt so unfamiliar to him. He searched his brain, racking through piles of distorted information. It was like he had disorganized file cabinets, and paper work and files had been scattered on the office floor.

The corpses of the men in the pod flashed in his mind, reminding him of the UNSC. He looked down his body, trying to find something to rejuvenate his memory. His vision locked in on some writing on his right side of his armor, a nametag. It read Templar. Then it felt like he had been smacked with a brick of memories as a once dead light bulb flickered to life above his head. He was first Lieutenant Asher Adam Templar, age twenty-nine, UNSC Marine Corp, second in command on the UNSC Destroyer the Lithium. The Lithium was built just at the end of the Human-Covenant War, and was deployed with a small task force to accompany re-colonization vessels for protection against the remnant of the Covenant. Asher was second in command of the destroyer's marine force on the vessel, the first in command being Major Jack Frees. But even he wasn't in full command of the ship, Captain Hawthorn had that privilege.

But none of that explained why he woke in a pod, full of dead marines, and why he couldn't remember anything. Possibly he had some head trauma, concussion that knocked some screws loose in his head. Asher grunted and he formed a push up, and sat up on his knees, taking in some fresh air, still aching like he had been sent to crawl through barbwire. He could tell that he had some broken ribs, bone bruising, head trauma, and who knows what else, he didn't think he had internal bleeding, but he was no doctor. Even then, he could be like the men inside the pod, dead. So he counted himself lucky in a horrible situation.

Soaking in his environment, it was a heavy forest-like area mixed with some jungle-like elements as well. He didn't recognize anything, nothing that could indicate what planet he was on, or if he was near any major UNSC outpost or even civilization. Rotating his torso around, he examined the pod he had exited, a bumblebee life pod, standard for UNSC ships in case of a hasty evacuation. Which is what seems was needed since he was in these horrid circumstances.

Asher needed to be on his toes, he had to assume he was in a hostile situation. With no recollection of recent events, Asher let himself think they had been attacked, and the ship was destroyed and abandoned. Using his left hand, he wiped it over his face, feeling thick liquid smear across his face. Every fiber of his body still wanted to just quit, his energy felt like it was in its reserves, every man had his limits, but he wasn't going to just lie down and die. Hell, he had been through a war that wiped out most of humanity, he wasn't going to let starvation or the elements kill him off. Straggling to his weary feet, and he went back into the pod, knowing full well there wouldn't be much, but he would need everything he can muster.

Entering the bumblebee life pod, he checked every body over again to make sure they were absolutely dead. He frowned, grabbing his side as ribs rubbed against his skin, making him bite his lip in frustration. Asher went over every corpse, checking them for anything useful, and grabbing each one's dog tags. He knew every dead marine in this lifeless husk, his heart twanged in knowing he'll never be able to talk to these men again.

His search came up with nothing. No useable weapons, the ones he did find had been damaged so badly in the crash that they would provide no use. Ammunition he had found had been inadequate due to the fact none of the weapons would work. Asher even checked the helmets of every marine, to see if they had a working communication device, but his luck was running dry. Moving his way up to the pilot, he lifted the shambled corpse off the control console, seeing the neck twisted at an awkward angle. He wiped his forehead with his forearm, his skin coming into contact with blood and sweat that had begun to dry because of the heat. Licking his ever dry lips, he cursed to himself as sparks danced across the life pod's dash, all controls and communications in a hectic frenzy. Stepping back, he stumbled over to the exit, and opened a hatch off a locker on the side; the only thing of use inside was a small medical kit.

As he grabbed it and stepped back out into the sunlight, he found himself looking at a bunch of trees, and it seemed that luck had acted upon itself to not allow the escape pod to crash into a tree and blow up on its decent. Asher ran his tongue across his bloodied teeth as he rummaged through the medical kit. Finding some biofoam and therapeutic wrap, he quickly ran through his cuts and small wounds, stopping the bleeding on his arms, and a gash on his forehead, though the work was sloppy, it'd do until he saw real medical attention.

Now for the even harder part, which direction should he go? He had no clue on what to do next. No orders, no radio contact, and no one to talk with to help decide a game plan, he was all alone on this world. Asher would have to take on his gut feeling and pick a direction, and hope for the best. But the best wasn't possible for him. Instinct kicked in, lifting the hair on his arm. He heard a twig snap and some ruffling outside the clearing. He wasn't alone. Asher cursed under his breath. He had to play this carefully. Asher felt eyes glued on him, it wasn't good. Having no visuals on his watchers, he didn't know how many. Maybe it was one, or maybe it was an entire squad. Thinking for a moment, he thought of his options.

He could try and run, but whoever was watching him, wouldn't allow that to happen. They might just panic and shoot him, kill him if he tried to run. With no weapon to defend himself, and not knowing where to go; Asher did the only logical choice that came to mind.

He raised his hands up into the hair very casually. The marine showed no sign of aggression, not wanting to piss off whoever was watching him, or think he was tricking them. He needed to be very nonchalant about the situation. As on cue, camouflaged men approached from behind the trees, encircling him one-hundred-eighty degrees, anomalous looking weapons designated on him. He wasn't familiar with the green woodland like armor and fatigues they wore, but it did resemble his own army green armor. Possibly insurgents, the UNSC did have a problem with them every now and then. Though a feeling was saying it was something much, much more.

The unknown men moved in on him, keeping the alien weapons trained on him. Maintaining his hands in the air, Asher observed the men some more, putting on a slight smile.

"I surrender."

Darth Vader felt a ripple in the force as he cut down a rebel soldier who had the brave courage to try and kill him up close. His white armored storm troopers rushed past him, pursing the retreating Alliance soldiers. Vader slowed his heavy breathing and focused in on the swell of the force. At first it was weak and faint, then it grew very rapidly. It was as if he had been stepped on by a Rancor. The dark lord couldn't really believe it, something very powerful was headed this way. He couldn't tell what, the force he was detecting was so exotic to him, it was something he had never felt in this galaxy before. Reaching out further into the force, trying to find the source of the undulation. Not even a sweat formed under his helmet, Vader knew his power had no bounds. Only to the extent that he wished for.

Locking onto the ripple, Vader turned and looked towards the sky. That's were his eyes wandered to, following the mystical current of the force. The sith couldn't see anything, maybe from it being hidden behind the clouds, or past his range of sight. Though he could feel it. Like it was converging towards him, coming closer and closer with every second. Drawing ever closer, Vader kept like always; emotionless. A vibration went off in his inner pockets of his suit. Decisively, he pulled out the Holo-pad that had been going off. No doubt he was about to receive some information from his the admiral at the blockade.

"_Lord Vader_," The human bowed slightly. The imperial naval uniform crinkled somewhat during it's motion.

"Admiral Griff, I sensed a disturbance in the force. I presume you are here to shed some light on the manor?"

Amise Griff nodded, his black hair jerked around. "_Yes my lord. Our sensors had picked up an anomaly not to long ago. Saying it picked up a ship about to drop out of hyper-space. But we detected nothing to confirm the use of a hyper-drive. During our a test, a ship of unknown origins appeared from what seemed to be hyper-space._"

"Unknown origin?" Vader thought about questioning his admiral. But some in the force told him he was telling the truth.

"_Yes, we have no data on it. We're running more preliminary scans on it. But it has also just launched several dozen escape pods. We even see several other pods jettisoning out from the ship, according to the life signs, those pods are single manned. We have other confirmed reports of docked ships powering up in it's bay. But everyone is abandoning ship, it's crashing into the planet._"

Vader remained silent, even with the sounds of war and destruction raging around him. The admiral spoke once again more nervously. "_What course of action would you like to do, my lord?_"

Replying with no emotion, he gave out his precise orders. "Find out the crash coordinates of the ship, and have a vessel pick me up with my personal escort. I shall check out the ship, send squadrons after the escape pods and the areas of the smaller pods. But continue to push the rebel forces, admiral."

The admiral bowed once more, and Vader cut the communications. Something was about to occur in this galaxy. He could feel it in his metal bones. Turning, Vader went off to go meet his ship en route to receive him.

Authors Note: Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Review, leave feedback, it's all appreciated. As I said it's still a work in progress, I'm taking each chapter one at a time. I'll try to update soon, so until next time!


	2. We're Not in Kansas Anymore

Isolation

Chapter II: We're not in Kansas Anymore

Authors Note: Thanks to the two who reviewed, it means a lot. Well it's my birthday today, so I figured I'd update this with chapter two. Send some reviews my way for my birthday! It does help a lot. I went the way with this chapter to keep it somewhat actioned packed, because that's where my best writing goes. Well, enjoy!

* * *

"Easy gentlemen, I don't mean any harm," Said Lieutenant Asher Temple as he watched as the squad of soldiers closing in on him.

The UNSC marine kept his hands in the air, watching the men close in on him after he had announced his surrender. He'd hope he had made the right choice, in capitulating to the armed soldiers in front of him. At least he had thought they were soldiers. They were certainly well equipped enough to be, along with armor and woodland-like fatigues, and with enough pouches and straps to hold ammunition and explosives. Not to mention they showed tactics, they had surrounded him in a one hundred eighty degree circle and closed in, or were closing in slowly. Which meant they had been somewhat trained, or so that was Asher's assumption.

Asher began to wonder if giving in to his soon to be captors was really a good idea. The contemplation of being held prisoner and possibly tortured made the young male grit his teeth. If there had been one good thing about the Covenant, they didn't take hostages, usually. Not to say they hadn't, but for the most part, they slaughter any opposition and survivors they faced. On the twisted side of that, the Covenant were monsters. Never showed remorse, or pity on how many innocent lives they had massacred. From men to women and to children, they murdered everything. Asher knew that, he knew the Covenant were cold, calculated beast that nearly wiped out an entire civilization for their own greedy purposes. Yet, Asher never found the just in himself to truly hate the Covenant, with that burning passion so many others did. Asher's goal in the war was to ensure survival, for himself and for others. He had always been the type to value another person's needs over his own.

"Sergeant, I say we just blast him. He's obviously an imperial spy!" One of the soldiers spat as another held up his fist.

Asher assumed that would be the sergeant the other soldier was talking to. Asher kept his hands raised in the air as he observed the men in front of them. Most of them looked young, green if you will. Nearly all of them looked to kids, barely eighteen or into there twenties. But the man who held up his fist seemed to be older. Which made sense if he was sergeant, even though Asher was twenty-nine and a lieutenant, but that's because he had excelled in many aspects of warfare, and was ranked the very top in his boot camp. Though his position was earned a lot through field promotions due to the Covenant claiming so many fatalities. The UNSC simply didn't have time to send so many men through officer training and schooling like normal, so basically if it looked like you had the guts and skill to do the job, and had the appropriate rank, you were the next in line.

Asher re-shifted his concentration to the sergeant walking forward to him. Noting the heavy eyes and the scar running down the right side of his face, along with a near shaved head that combined with a slender beard encasing his face. The man lowered his weapon as the others around him kept trained on Asher. Now proving he had no chance of escaping, if he moved, they'd mostly shoot him and end his life without a second of hesitation.

"He looks a little out of order to be an imperial." The man finally responded, eyeing Asher's rough demeanor. "From what dispatch said, the ship this guy came from matches nothing in Empire's arsenal, though I was told it bears resemblance to the Imperial class star destroyers. Besides, he crashed in an escape pod, that means the ship wasn't in it's best condition."

Another soldier spoke up. "Maybe they made a new ship? To throw us off, then made it look as if something was wrong with the ship. The crew 'abandons' ship, we pick up survivors and bring them in!"

The sergeant nodded his head. "No, to much trouble. They'd just use an already known ship. Plus, there are easier was to get spies into the Alliance than crashing a ship."

Asher looked around, confusion drawn onto his face. He had no idea what these men were talking about. They made it seem as if they had no idea that he was part of the United Nation Space Command. And what was with the Empire and this Alliance? The marine had surely never heard of them before. Nothing seem to add up as he tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle in his brain. Questions were forming in his mind that required some answers.

"First Lieutenant Asher Temple, UNSCMC, third in command on the UNSC destroyer the _Lithium_. Part of small detachment to protect a re-colonization fleet to revive dead planets for humanity to live on. I just woke up with very little memory in that crashed life pod behind me. It's currently holding the corpses of half a dozen dead men I served with and knew. If you're insurgents take me away or shoot me. If you're here to help, then please get me somewhere were I can contact UNSC forces."

Asher exhaled all those words in one breath, keeping calm and collected and puzzled faces aroused in the group of armed men in front of him. The sergeant didn't flinch, he didn't show emotion, he almost mimicked Asher. The two mortals locked eyes, as if they were searching for something. Like the truth was behind their pupils deep within their souls. Each of them trying to find and absorb the truth they so desperately wanted. Asher felt some more blood trickle down his forehead as one of the soldiers talked.

"UNSCMC? What the frack is that? He must have hit his head harder than he thinks."

Annoyance was running deep into Asher's veins, with a little bit of anger, but he never showed it on his face. The lieutenant was getting tired of this game, how could they not know what the UNSC is? Whatever they were playing, it needed to end. "UNSC? United Nation Space Command? UNSCMC, United Nation Space Command Marine Corps? Fought the Covenant in the Human-Covenant War?"

Even the sergeant in front of him looked baffled at this point. "Covenant? Human-Covenant War? Doesn't quite ring any bells. But I do know this, we're no 'insurgents' or this 'Covenant. We're with the rebel Alliance. From what I was told, a ship appeared from hyper space and it had sent out several escape pods. We're here to collect the survivors, and get them off planets because the Empire is knocking right on our door."

Asher immediately returned the bewildered look. "You've mention this Alliance and the Empire twice now, what it is? Where am I?"

"You're on Yavin 4, the Alliance's focal point. Just follow us to the rendezvous zone, we'll try to figure this out on the way."

* * *

Vardam Ussai felt himself meld into the forest-like milieu. Practically becoming apart of the dense forest. His once grayish black body armor shimmered as his active camouflage took over. Several of his Sanghelil brethren around him dissolved in the background, like a ghost or a ninja in the shadow. Even the Unggoy that had deployed with them off the burning vessel had triggered their active camouflage. The special operations commander ran through his gear quickly and efficiently. His plasma rifle on one hip, his energy sword on the other. With several plasma grenades also on hand. The Sanghelil clicked it's mandibles as one of his brethren approached.

"We have suffered no casualties from the crash. Very lucky with that confined space in that blasted human contraption."

Vardam had to agree with his counterpart. The escape pod was rather confined for three special operation Sanghelil and two special operation Unggoy. Meeting the maximum for them and their weapons on the escape craft. Vardam still blasted the damn Jiralhanae and their ships to be able to take them surprise. However no one expected them to show up, let alone with the sizeable fleet they brought. What troubled Vardam more, was that Jiralhanae knew what they were actually there for. They had to, they wouldn't have come with that type of power for a 're-colonization' vessel. It made his insides flip and turn, out of his special operations outfit that had been part of the attachment of the fleet. He was the only one that knew the real truth.

Vardam felt like he'd lost his honor, lying to his brethren and keeping secrets. It was pitiful, but the humans wouldn't allow them onboard if they didn't keep it on a need to know basis. Even the Arbiter and the high council agreed this discovery should remain hidden for the time being. Many humans and even his own brethren had asked why they such a over qualified team take part in such a normal task. The human captain; Hawthorne, and himself told them it was an act of good faith, and it would be good mission exercise for the special operations. No one had questioned it.

"Lucky indeed, Zorrah." Vardam replied. "We need to gather our forces. Regroup, establish communications with our forces and the humans. Then we shall reorganize and figure out from there."

Zorrah Sellau nodded, his armored shimmered as he moved, hefting his beam rifle he rallied the other Sanghelil and the two Unggoy as Vardam activated his communication device.

"This Special Operations Officer Vardam Ussai. We have landed on the planet, our location is unknown."

Unknown indeed, Vardam had no idea what planet this was. He knew the vessel had jumped into slip-space, having to retreat from the Jiralhanae so they couldn't get there filthy hides on their discovery. But that brought up another point, they had find the human vessel before someone else did. Before they escaped the vessel, Hawthorne had informed him of a sizeable fleet surrounding the planet, with activity all over the planet itself. Meaning they had to get the vessel, which in turn they would have to announce the truth if reinforcements didn't arrive soon.

A gut feeling told Vardam reinforcements were very unlikely. His communication link burst into static as a voice entered. "_Excellency! This is Huaama, I've linked with another group of Sanghelil survivors. We're awaiting your orders_."

Vardam clicked his mandibles once more, this time in pleasure. It was a small victory, if they were in radio range, they could travel the distance to link up with the others. The only problem was where.

"In the sky ! See! See! Look!"

Even with the active camouflage on, he could see one of the Unggoy jumping and pointing up in the sky. Vardam looked to the what the smaller creature was making such a fuss about. Above the trees and into the sky, Vardam noticed the streak crossing the clouds. It was a life pod. One from the human vessel. An idea appeared in his brain.

"Huaama, can see you see that escape pod in the sky?"

"_Yes, we can see it from our location_."

"That's where we meet, we'll reorganize ourselves, get with more survivors and go from there."

"_Yes your Excellency._"

"Also, be aware of hostiles in the area. I was notified on activity on this planet. Could be the Jiralhanae. Use your active camouflage."

Then Vardam cut the link. Having nothing more to say, he continued to eye the falling life craft. Motioning with his arm for the others to follow as he started off into a medium jog. The others keeping pace, even the two Unggoy. But special operations Unggoy weren't like the others. They were trained to actually be efficient. To do more than to just sop up ammunition and be a shield. Vardam respected them, they had earned the right to fight side by side the special operations Sanghelil.

Vardam increased his pace into run, his eyes ever vigilant as the escape pod came crashing down into the forest. Even from their position, he could hear the pod crash and ripple throughout the dense forest terrain. If there were others on this planet and were nearby, they would surely come to inspect the life craft. How long it would be before his allies or perhaps even some opposition arrived would be unknown, so Vardam duly noted that time was a factor and of the essence.

From an outside observer, Vardam and his warriors just looked liked shimmering in the light, even Vardam had to admit active camouflage had come along way. As well as Zorrah as he joined Vardam at the top of the column. "Vardam, do you recognize this planet? Nothing feels familiar about it."

Vardam shook his head. "Nothing feels familiar brother. The humans made a quick jump to escape the Jiralhanae onslaught."

Zorrah growled at the thought of the Jiralhanae. "I shall slay everyone of them and skin their hides for trophies!"

Vardam only nodded in agreement, talk was cheap in his eyes, but him and Zorrah had proven they were proficient at ending life. They would do so again, at the right time. They just needed to focus on getting to that escape craft. The Sanghelil officer seemed to get lost in his own thoughts as he gracefully moved right through the tree and brushes around, gleaming in the cracks of light that broke the tree line above. But the group of ex-Covenant continued swiftly and silently until they had reached the crash site. The metal shell had crash right into a small clearing, lucky enough to not run into any trees and explode.

Vardam halted the group just outside the clearing, viewing from the right side of the pod. Several seconds passed, in which nothing came out of the worn-out vehicle. It was quite plausible to think all the occupants were either injured and incapacitated or deceased. Though through experience and battle with the humans, they didn't die and give up so easy. Zorrah crept next to him as the other Sanghelil and the two Unggoy scattered and took up positions incase hostiles decided to rear their ugly heads.

"The occupants are deceased." Zorrah grumbled. "Surely if they were alive they would have exited the craft by now."

Vardam could sense the impatience in his voice. It was understandable, the Sanghelil longed for combat and warfare. Fighting a thirty year long war as a warrior and trying to make a shift to a peaceful universe wasn't the easiest of task for his kind. It seemed harder than actually fighting and dying sometimes.

"That or-"

Zorrah was cut off as a screech ruptured the silence, the Sanghelil quieted himself instantaneously and watched. A single wandered out from the pod, stumbling over himself and falling on the dirt in front of him. The human laid in the dirt for a minute, unmoving as if he had died. Vardam knew better, the human started to shift his body around. Like he was uncomfortable under his own skin, trying to get a feel for himself. The male picked his decrepit self up as he looked around his body and his atmosphere. He continued to adjust himself until he dragged himself back into the escape pod again.

The marine was obviously befuddled, and had some trauma and other wounds. Lacerations cut across his skin and fatigues, bruises drilled into his face and neck, turning the skin a deep purple. Crimson fluid ran down his face, mixing into his apparel along with the sweat in the heat. His armor dented and cracked from the collision, he was lucky to be alive. Vardam's acute sense of smell picked up on the odor of death, and even human bodily fluid such a vomit which he had encountered before. The marine had to know he was fortunate to be breathing, unlike the comrades that were still in the pod Vardam guessed.

"Shouldn't we move in and assist the human?" Zorrah whispered.

"Don't be so rash to act. Vigilance is also the key to survival."

His communication device went off as Huaama spoke. "_Me and the other warriors I have collected are nearing the pod's position._"

"Hurry brethren, we are already here. The crash has one survivor." Vardam paused for a moment as he watched the human come back from the pod; with only the a small medical kit in his scanty hands. "Stay in the shadows. We're watching the human, to see if he draws any attention."

Huaama responded on a positive message and cut the link once more. The small unit of aliens still observing the human soldier. He messily cleaned and bandaged his wounds where he could. Vardam directed his warriors to stay put as he went around to the front of end of the vicinity where the pod pointed to. Posturing himself behind a tree for cover and peering out over the to the human. He was now gazing in front of him, as if he had seen something. Maybe he had seen his active camouflage glisten with his movement? A faint noise sounded off behind him. He didn't move, he held his breath as he swung his eye around. A squad of human soldiers moved in cautiously, but it wasn't the human soldiers Vardam was use to. They were dissimilar, carrying odd weapons he had never seen another use before. Their armor was close, but not exact to that of the UNSC's marine armor. Vardam had known the humans had a problem with rebels before.

The human survivor slowly raised his hands, even before he had even seen the enemy. Maybe Vardam had alerted him to the special operations presence, and these other humans had just happened to show up at the right time. One of the human soldiers waved his hand, indicating to move in, passing the veiled Sanghelil. One soldier coming close, Vardam could hear his breathing. Vardam towered over the human in height, his shoulder very nearly coming into contact with his breast plate. Vardam managed to nudge himself just out of the way as the human passed him. His communication device going off.

"_Should we kill the other humans? They're surrounding the other_."

Indeed they were, weapons raised at the marine. "Keep still." Vardam ordered. "It's possible they are allies. We don't want to kill the humans and find we killed them for nothing. We wait and watch."

"I surrender." The human marine blurted out, his hands still raised as the squadron closed in on him.

Vardam assessed the human's course of logic. He was sure the marine had thought of escaping, trying to flee from the strange men. That itinerary would have several outcomes, most of which didn't end in a good manner. So Vardam presumed he had given himself up so easily because he had no other readily available option. No weapons, no brethren to assist him, no apparent means of communication and not sure of his location, he had done the smart choice. Not Vardam's preference in this status, but for the human it was acceptable. The seasoned veteran Sanghelil continued to think to himself as he listened in on the faint dialogue that exchanged between the marine and armed men. The hidden extraterrestrial was cooking up a plan, one if the soldiers did what he thought, he would be able trail them back to a base of some sorts and possibly find more survivors.

But as they continued to talk, he picked up faded words that didn't quite tote up in the sense category. Words like the 'Allaince' and 'Empire' had arisen. He wasn't quite sure what they meant, but perhaps he would soon learn.

"You're on Yavin 4, the Alliance's focal point. Just follow us to the rendezvous zone, we'll try to figure this out on the way." The man closest to the UNSC combatant.

"_Perfect_." Vardam thought to himself.

The marine paused for a minute, standing still looking the other man directly in the eyes from what Vardam could tell. Nothing was said for a few awkward moments, the possibly of the marine objecting and trying to fight grew in the silence. If it did, Vardam and his soldiers would have to act. Having to kill the men before they killed the marine. His mandibles wavered as the discomfited air seem to shift around him, a gentle breeze rolling over the dense forest region. But more didn't add up as well, he didn't bear in mind any planets by the appellation of Yavin 4, something anomalous was undeniably taking place.

The marine nodded to the other, agreeing to follow the man to his assembly point. Vardam thanked his forefathers for a small favor as he watched the group of humans start to move out towards the east.

"_Vardam, what is our course of action_?" Zorrah lingered into his communications.

"Zorrah, you will come with me and we shall tail the humans. See where they take the marine. The others will stay behind and wait for Huaama and his warriors. They shouldn't be long, inform them and then follow our trail to east and regroup with us."

Zorrah acknowledged his ordered as Vardam primed his gear and met with Zorrah in the middle of the clearing, taking off after the small group of humans that had set off in a light jog, gaining a ample lead over the two Sanghelil. Nothing overbearing though, they had gone through worst, done much harder task. And this one would be no different. The elite warriors moved with a rapid sense of readiness, their active camouflage reflecting in the light along with their movement. If up close moving like this, they would easily be spotted or at least taken note of. But as long as they kept a distance, they would simply be mirages and the wind to others.

Neither of them took point, but rather moved next to one another. It was out of respect for the other. Every Sanghelil warrior wanted honor, to them taking point in a mission meant the first to be in combat and optimistically thought the first gain honor in battle. Even veterans like Vardam and Zorrah wanted honor still, but showed each other that their bonds as brothers meant much more. The two mirages moved in unison as they crossed through trees and brushes and slight slopes, even jumping over logs and crossing a small river as they finally caught eye upon the human group. They moved in a scattered formation, the UNSC marine and the man he talked to moving on point while the others followed.

Vardam felt some respect for the unidentified human. It was possible he was the leader of the group, maybe a sergeant as the humans call them. They mostly led squads, or he could be even higher in rank. Vardam felt leaders should lead by example, not stay back and simply command and not fight. If it came to a moment where he would have to kill the human, he would bring him an praiseworthy death. Zorrah and Vardam continued to close in on the group, but still keeping a observant distance. Placing themselves fifteen to twenty meters behind them. By the bobbing of heads, he could tell the marine and the lead human were talking. His mind grew curious, he intended to find out about what though soon enough.

They followed the knot of soldiers for almost another five to ten minutes, Vardam wasn't actually sure. But in the end, it had been worth it. Watching the men squeeze through very tightly knit trees and shrubs, Vardam and Zorrah followed, peering out at their prey. What they found was not what Vardam had expected. They found themselves at another clearing, but this time only bigger, much bigger. The opening contained a very sizable force, along with several abnormal looking vessels in the center, boarding personnel onto them. They weren't very extensive, by the looks of it they only put six to eight individuals in each one. Meaning they had larger ships they were being sent off too. By the looks of this, it would take a very long time for them to get every person onto a ship and out.

"They're evacuating?" Zorrah questioned, the two warriors still in camouflage. "For what reason?"

It was a good question, if they were evacuating, it didn't mean things were good for them either. Vardam kept a keen eye on the UNSC marine, tracking him, keeping positive to not lose him. The situation itself just became much more problematical. Even with just him and Zorrah, it was ultimately impossible for them to sneak onto such small drop ships with passengers boarding and not be revealed. In addition, it wasn't just him and Zorrah. They also had Huaama, another Sanghelil, two Unggoy and whatever forces Huaama had managed to muster together. Vardam and surely Zorrah weren't about leave their brethren behind. Which meant Vardam had to devise a plan, which in turn had two ways it could go. They could with a surreptitiousness approach, or they could use their already big element of surprise and take a full offensive.

The problem with a full on offensive, was that it would cost unneeded lives, especially if these people weren't hostile to begin with. No, Vardam preferred the stealth approach. If he and his men could get into the right positions, and have good fire support, they could get the men to surrender, if the rest of his plan worked perfectly, if not, then most likely this would be Vardam's last plan. Vardam could hear soft footsteps approach from behind him, he didn't move, in case it was more of these mysterious soldiers.

"At ease brother," The voice of Huaama softly said.

Vardam relaxed as Huaama walked beside him, gladly noting he didn't call him Excellency or something along the lines. These were all his brothers, and that's how he wished to be treated, with the respect and honor of a brother, not just a commanding officer. Vardam had a very different point of view as a leader and officer than other Sanghelil held, though there are others like him.

"Not a moment to late. We have a difficult task at hand." Replied Vardam. Pointing out the human encampment, his body shimmering from the active camouflage. "One of the humans is from the UNSC, these humans are of unknown origin. They found his escape pod and he willingly followed them to here, having no other option. So we trailed them to here."

"Are they hostile? I've striven off the urge of combat for far to long." Huaama questioned and stated.

"That we do not now, as of now, they have shown no signs of hostility to the marine." Vardam avowed as he eyed the UNSC marine and some of the soldiers talking.

"I say we act swiftly and kill them before they become hostile." Said Zorrah, Vardam could sense his impatience growing.

"Enough Zorrah, but I do have a idea." Vardam silenced his comrade as he eyed the survivors Huaama brought with him.

Huaama managed to gather a sizeable group of survivors, Vardam tallying six Sanghelil and eight Unggoy. Each equipped with a random assort of Covenant weaponry, but nothing that would put them into better odds.

"Considering the size of warriors here with us now, the plan may actually be pulled off."

"We're Special Operations, any foe in our path will be crushed." One of the Sanghelil muttered loud enough for the group to hear.

Vardam ignored him and continued. "We go in silent with the active camouflage. I will go in the depths of the crowd where our marine is being held. From there, I will deactivate my camouflage and take from what I can observe their leader hostage." Vardam continued to lay down the plan to his men.

"During the chaos and confusion, Huaama will lead a team that will gather more hostages and keep the pressure shifting from man to man and not focused on one."

Zorrah interrupted, Vardam could tell by the way his mandibles clicked he was not happy that Huaama was leading the team and not him. "What part do the rest of us take in your plan?"

Clicking his battle hardened mandibles in return, he prompted to answer Zorrah's question. "You and the rest of the SpecOps will be here for fire support. Use you as shadows and leverage. Spread around the encampment, and stay in active camouflage until given the word. Do not fire unless forced upon your hand. I do not mean to start a bloodbath, I intend to negotiate out of this."

"Why negotiate brother?" One of the Sanghelil questioned. The sound of soldiers could be heard over his voice. "Why not simply execute the enemy with such an advantage?"

"It's possible they are not hostile, they haven't shown any signs, and they're evacuating for a reasons. A reasons I intend to find out. We need a way off this planet, this planet reeks of suspicion. They still have more men and firepower than us, and in a fire fight, even with our drop, wouldn't fold well in our favor if they organize quick enough. I know many of you linger for battle, as do I brothers, but now is not the time. Show patience, I can sense we will be in battle no far from now."

Clicked mandibles and measly replies from the Unggoy confirmed his plan. The group split, Huaama gathering his four Sanghelil team and preparing themselves, identifying the targets each of them would pick. Zorrah and the other quickly and quietly spread themselves out around the encampment, places themselves into the proper positions needed to support them in case. Now the rest was for him to get into position. Vardam's fingers slid over the hilt of his plasma sword, creeping towards the edge of the brush that concealed him indefinitely, he clicked his mandibles, and prayed to his forefathers that this would work.


	3. One For All

Isolation

Chapter III: One for All

Authors Note: I'm extremely pleased at the review turn out, and hope it continues to grow, I love hearing from you guys, what you think and how you think I can improve on the story and as a writer as a whole. It does mean a lot in the end, I promise it does. I'm glad to say this is doing better than expected, and the ideas for this story are starting to come together nicely. A few things I'd like to address to some reviewers.

Yay: A blaster on high can down an Elite in one shot? Hm, a little to powerful for my liking, so I might have to tweak something there.

Ryvan17: I know that as well, and I think I mixed it up when I was writing that part. I know only the Navy can command the ships, but I was more or less leaning on who was in charge of the UNSC personnel on ship. And thank you for the offer! I've indulged a lot of time researching the UNSC and Star Wars, considering I'm a big fan of both, but all help is welcomed and I will surely not let that offer go to waste.

MS-18 Z Jager: Wait until you see how the Elites fight with force influence! It is inevitable in this story that some new characters will be influenced by the force.

Also, sorry for the really long wait. I started my freshman year at college and between that and work it's hard for me to write a lot, plus writers block hurt me because I don't have this story planned out, more or less a freestyle. So if anyone wants to help with the story or edit for me I'd love it! Anyways, this chapter is a little shorter, but next chapter will be longer and much more action packed, so enjoy and review!

* * *

Clenching his ever sore jaw together, Asher rubbed his gloved hand over his mouth as he listened to the sergeant talk. Whom had decided to divulge his name, Sylvain Aduro. What Aduro was telling him was on a scale of one to ten, a twenty of fucking impossible. Their was just no way any of it could be true, not in the slightest way. Asher figured he had died, and the afterlife was playing an insidious trick on him, or he was laying somewhere, unconscious or in a coma, dreaming all this nonsense up. He had to be, every word that left the sergeant's mouth was ludicrous. But at the same time, Asher had a tingling sensation run through his spine that it was true. Nothing was seeming to add up, and Asher wasn't exactly a detective.

Asher observed all the unknown ships, men and the weapons they carried as they moved rapidly around to fulfill their duties, but as Aduro explained, time was briskly shrinking. Aduro explained he was part of the rebel Alliance, and they where evacuating the planet, Yavin 4, the focal point of the Alliance, because their enemy, the Empire, was barreling down on them for the Alliance destroying it's super weapon the Death Star. And that was shorten, cut down to it's core version of the story. Even Asher had to admit the shorten version was a handle full and made his stomach sway like a rocking chair.

Asher continued to indulge himself at the bustling soldiers and number of drop ships carrying supplies and ferrying personnel out. Surely this amount of activity didn't go unnoticed, and the enemy would indisputably show up and try to crash the party at some point. That made him even more nervous as he shared his story of the UNSC and Covenant war. After including the sergeant in everything he knew, he looked almost unsurprised. When Asher mentioned the existence of aliens and other life forms, his face was solid as ever.

"Sounds like some hell of a war to destroy nearly an entire civilization. We've had plenty of wars in our galaxy. Fighting with aliens, against them and all in between. But for a weapon that kills every sentient being in the galaxy, with one button, now that takes the cake over the death star."

Asher only nodded at the man's statement. The halo rings were in no doubt one of the most terrifying weapons he knew of. But the death star, that defiantly had a notch up on the Covenant's glassing technology. To blow up a whole planet in one fowl swoop? That was almost just as atrocious.

"Yeah, but having an orbital platform that can destroy a planet with a giant laser? That's just as a bad thought hovering over you like the Covenant's glassing technology."

"Well, we also got rid of the death star now." Aduro spouted, a sleek grin shining across his face.

"And the Covenant are no longer a problem."

Aduro nodded, Asher couldn't tell him how he ended up on this planet, or even in this galaxy if every thing that had been said was true. Asher wish he could tell him, but he couldn't even remember how it happened himself. It's why Asher so desperately needed to get into contact with somebody. His life pod couldn't of been the only life pod jettisoned out, and what of the remains of the _Lithium_?

"So where do we go from here?" Asher questioned as Aduro stopped moving through the pit of the crowd and supply boxes.

Aduro sighed as he tried to search himself for an answer. "To tell you the truth lieutenant, I'm not sure. All I know is that what squads are available and can, are trying to intercept your life pods. But we have a lot on our plate already, and have to care for ourselves first. And the Empire isn't exactly giving us much breathing room."

Asher could only nod at the sad news. But he understood, the UNSC would probably do the same. But the UNSC has done some pretty drastic things before in the past. "I'm sure if more of my men come along, we'll be glad to assist you in anyway possible. No offense sergeant, but this whole place is a giant target."

"I know, trust me I know. But we're running out of options. We've got squads further out from our position keeping the perimeter secure."

Asher had a feeling it was anything but a secure perimeter. There was a lot of forest they had to cover, meaning a bunch of ground they had to cover. With no real man power to cover all the ground, it was only time before something slipped by. And Asher wasn't the type to get caught with his pants down. But with no idea what they were really up against, and his own men scattered, not much options were given, so he'd have to play it their way for the time being.

"Sergeant, I know this isn't my place to say," Asher somberly said to Aduro. "But you don't have the time and resources to get all these supplies and people out of here at the same time if what you tell me is true."

Aduro simply looked at the battered lieutenant, knowing fully well he was right. "I suggest you get what you're moving now, take it and leave the rest. And focus on getting your people out. Resources are expendable, people are not."

Some of the soldiers and other personnel made quick glances in the two human's direction. Aduro closed his eyes for a split second, letting go a heavy sigh, the signs of stress were visibly radiating of the man. A twinge of guilt wiped across Asher's face, undermining him in front of his men, he knew himself the job wasn't easy. It never was.

"You're right, I'll send the order through to wrap up on the supplies and to start getting everyone out. I'll start pulling squads back once fifty percent of our people are shipped out."

Aduro looked at Asher, to normal eyes, he had a hard, cool exterior that would make an Elite second guess itself battle. To someone who knew how commanding went and all the responsibilities it held, his face was flushed with worry. The young lieutenant wanted to say something, something that would ease the stress, but first hand experience told him nothing would. This was something that makes or breaks a leader, how you handle with the stress. And Asher was still trying to judge Aduro's leadership and character.

"In the meantime, I'm going to contact our headquarters and try to get an update on your men and even your ship status if we have anything on it. I was just directed to your life pod solely."

Asher murmured a thank you as Aduro stepped over near a few crates as Asher started to let his eyes wander once more. Still in awe at the events taking place, watching all these people move with purpose and fear for their lives, it felt like he was at war again. In the grand scheme of things, he was at war again, when the Empire shows up, Asher wouldn't vacillate in fighting them. The information that was shared with him made them seem as bad as the Covenant, and no one deserved that. And the chances of the Empire simply letting the UNSC go home, was none to nothing. If going home to their galaxy was even possible.

With Aduro's voice being audible even over the lively workforce, Asher noticed a shimmer, a slight gleam that reflected over the rays of sun that broke through what little trees were in the clearing. The shimmer felt so familiar, he'd seen it somewhere. It looked as if it was moving, closer and closer to Aduro. Aduro completely unaware of the glistening object getting nearby. It was like déjà vu was punching him square in the face and he couldn't recognize it. The shimmer was tall, and moved so agile that it was like a whisper in the wind. Almost no one picked it up expect for the young marine, nimbly moving by soldiers as it neared the sergeant.

"What the…" Asher trailed off as he took a step closer.

The shimmer took notice, and stopped completely. Asher could feel the shimmer looking at him, but did nothing for a total of two seconds. Then he noticed as the area where a head would be located for a tall figure started to shake very slowly. As if it was telling him no. Confusion reaped his brain as felt his adrenalin start enter his system. Bones gave off his distinct vibe as his stomach curled. Watch the shimmer continue to move, it was almost upon Aduro, why did this all seem so memorable….then it clicked like a light bulb flickered to life over his head. Asher moved in an instant, grunting out a noise as he tried to speak but failed to do so. Aduro and some of the soldiers heard the grunt and turned to see Asher moving, but by the time Asher had to react and for anyone to notice what was going on, it was far to late.

* * *

Vardam clenched the hilt of his plasma sword even tighter as he navigated through the confines of the human encampment. Carefully creeping and maneuvering past supply creates and moving humans. It was like a constantly moving maze, it was indisputably a challenge, even for someone with Vardam's skill level. Vardam hoped his brother's luck would run the same path his was for the moment, one mistake, and his plan would end in a bloodbath. But the fact they had the element of surprise on their side was a huge advantage at the moment, the humans weren't looking for cloaked figures, even with the size of him and his brothers, plus the humans were so busy with the evacuation, they didn't even notice the shimmer move so swiftly through the crowd.

His mandibles twitched as he passed two human soldiers talking to one another with their weapons in hand. They spoke of the Empire that Vardam heard of earlier, and how they were closing in. The alien's curiosity was expanding like a balloon by the second. Eye's darting in their sockets, Vardam focused on his target as he neared him, his prey broke free from the young marine, and took a few steps away over to some stacked creates. It would make no difference in the end, as long as Vardam could get a hold of him. Halting himself, another group of soldiers walked past, making the extraterrestrial's muscles tighten up and his breathing to stop.

The soldier moved briskly passed him, one almost bumping into him. That would of ended very bad. His active camouflage would of disengaged, causing him to give away his presence, and his team to surely open fire in an attempt to keep him alive. Luckily fate didn't it see it that way, and was giving him a clear conduit to his prey. It was his time to strike, Vardam moved once more. Letting his body blend with the light as it morphed around him, his prey was almost within reach. Then he noticed the marine looking at him. Vardam slowed down, but nudged forward steadily, studying his ally. The human's focused locked right onto Vardam, he could feel it.

The human didn't move for a slight second, the Sanghelil hoped he wouldn't. He didn't the human he was trying to help blow his plan. Then the human moved, Vardam stopping completely this time. Then slowly wrenched his head side to side, trying to indicate the human to stop moving. He froze up instantly after Vardam's head shook. Another second later, Vardam moved with intense speed and fury, knowing he no longer anymore time, he had to strike. Bring his plasma sword up it exploded into hot, burning plasma as it formed it's unique shape as he felt his active camouflage extricate and melt off him, revealing himself to everyone in plain day. But it didn't matter, by the time anyone could even properly react, his team was already executing the rest of the plan, and with Vardam's target already in arm's reach…

* * *

The corporal watched as the white armor soldier crumpled in front of him in a tangled, bloody heap. Smoke hazily drifted from the barrel of his shotgun as the man pumped it once more. The slug discharging and falling to the ground in one swift motion. Lowering the M90A CAWS, the corporal watched as two clad in black armor, orbital dock shock troopers walked up next to him, starting to lower their weapons respectively. Sunlight reflecting off his visor on his helmet. The trooper to the corporal's right moved up the motionless body, and kicked the leg with his boot softly, almost a nudge.

"Well, I guess it goes to show you no matter who you are, an eight gauge shell at close range will kill you." The voice said with a slight chuckle.

"Probably a scout," The other hell jumper said as he moved in and crouched next to the corpse, mulling over the dent and bullet holed chest plate of the white armored soldier. "The armor seems to offer medium to little protection to ballistic weaponry. And back by the _Lithium, _most of these guys were getting chewed up by our weapons. Your shotgun tore right into this poor fuck."

The second shock trooper stood up, hefting his MA5C up with him. Private first class Byers to his right, was the younger, more green to the orbital dock shock troopers and the more headstrong of the three, the type to crack jokes and go in with everything all at once guns blazing. While lance corporal Sheridan was the medic, more calm and level headed, very proficient and tactical soldier. The man absorbed information like none other the corporal knew, why he was in the medical field and still a lance corporal was beyond a mystery.

"Most likely sent up ahead from his squad. Chances are they aren't far behind, and if they radio him, and when he doesn't answer, they'll come looking" Said Sheridan.

"So what's the next move Vines?" Byers' voice emitted out, his helmet staring in corporal Travis Vine's direction.

Vines thought for a minute, his mind spiraling at all the events that had just happened. The _Lithium _being nearly destroyed by the surprise Covenant attack, crash landing on some unknown planet with unknown hostiles in weird shining, white armor with laser weaponry trying to kill them. It got even worse when Vines had finally regrouped with survivors at the wreckage of the _Lithium _including major Frees of the marines and even captain Hawthorne. Then the white soldiers started to appear and all out war began over the corpse of the _Lithium_. Eventually they became outmanned and out gunned, and the captain ordered a full retreat, to scatter and regroup, to find more survivors.

Vines had been lucky enough to escape with his body still intact, while grabbing these two troopers on the way out. It was unclear on how many made it out, but most were likely killed or captured. Vines swallowed some salvia down his dry throat at that thought.

"Byers, keep trying the comms, someone has to pick up eventually. Hopefully we'll get in contact with someone with a plan. As for this," Vines pointed his shotgun at the carcass. "Leave him where he lays, let them know we're not a joke and still have our teeth." Vines growled out.

"We need to keep moving, at least until we can find a better place with more cover than these trees."

Byers and Sheridan didn't say anything, only nodded in agreement as the trio started to move off in the opposite direction of the white armored corpse laid. Vines led the group, with Byers and Sheridan close behind. They didn't even have a plan, just to keep moving until something better appeared. It made Vines nervous, and even more so angry to just wander around unknown territory blind. But options were inadequate at the moment. What boggled the corporal even more was what was going on. Where were they? What was with the white soldiers? Nothing felt right, if anything the Covenant should have been the ones assaulting them.

Vines growled to himself as they moved on, his heads up display actively displaying his vitals and his motion radar, two yellow blips right next him. Hopefully it would stay that way. But trouble always had a way of rearing its ugly head around, Vines just hoped he had a enough shells to put the trouble down when it came. Vines had also learned if you speak of the devil, it usually appeared as well. A red bolt streaked past the trio as it zipped past Vines' head. Vines cursed as the three scrambled for cover.

"Fuck!" Byers yelled out, more red bolts dance around the forest environment. "Well that didn't take long for them to find us!" Byers peered out from cover and fired his MA5C towards the squad of white armor soldiers who most likely had revenge in mind.

Vines broke from cover and pulled the trigger of his shotgun, the eight gauge shell ripped into the hostile soldier, crashing to the ground in a bloody mess. Vines hoped that would scare them off from advancing for another minute or so. Sheridan and Byers added more gunfire into the mix, chewing the forest alive as the ballistics ripped it to shreds. But their side of the battlefield wasn't exactly in any better condition. Laser burns and disintegrated bark littered the field with the aroma of burning grass filled the air.

"Byers!" Vines yelled over Sheridan's gunfire. "Flank them, we'll keep them distracted!"

Byers nodded and took off to circle around the right as Vines unloaded another shell into a tree covering one of the hostiles. Vines and Sheridan both gave each other a glance, and nodded in unison, both taking out fragmentation grenades, priming them and tossing them towards the hostile squad. Muffled shouts could be heard, then died over the screams and duel explosions as bark and shrapnel scattered. Almost instantly after, gunfire clicked and rattled, short sporadic bursts.

"Clear!" Byers called out.

Vines and Sheridan cleared from their cover, and rejoined Byers, surveying the bloody limbs and damaged battlefield. Almost reminded Vines of the Human-Covenant War.

"These guys weren't so tough!" Byers called out, confidence overbearing in his voice.

Sheridan almost instantly replied. "Next time we probably won't be so lucky. Those were our only grenades, and chances are we don't have a lot of ammunition for a prolonged firefight. Plus, one hit from those lasers and we'll be fried."

"Reload your weapons, check your gear and lets keep moving. If we're going to survive, we need to link up with someone."

"_Humans, this is Zorrah Sellau, Sanghelil Special Operations. If you can hear this, then we require your assistance._"

* * *

Asher watched as Aduro was plucked into the air as the Sanghelil became visible. Aduro yelled out in surprise as a hand wrapped around his throat and he was lifted slightly in the air. The plasma sword the elite possessed activated in a bright, dazzling effect following with its distinctive sound that stuck fear into its enemies. Asher cursed under his breath, he never could understand how things can go to shit all in an instant. More shouts and grunted echoed out behind him, Asher quickly spun as he noticed three more special operation elites appear from the safety of the active camouflage and take more hostages, each spread out in the encampment carrying either plasma rifles or needlers.

Asher was starting to understand, he could already tell the plan to a point, gather hostages by surprise, spread out and keep pressure shifting. It was smart, but it didn't add up, only four elites? The elites were powerful foes, but not dumb, suicidal ones. Something wasn't right.

"Move or fire at us and I will not hesitate to dismember your leader!" The elite who grabbed Aduro shouted, his mandibles clicking as most elites do.

At this point, everyone at the encampment stopped what they were doing and froze, soldiers had guns pointed in all directions. Confused and unsure what to do. They could easily kill the elites with sheer firepower, but at the cost of the hostages. Asher looked at the elite who held Aduro in his grasp, his face was familiar. Then it clicked he was the leader of the special operations unit on the _Lithium_. The only reason Asher could come up for this action was to rescue him, that was shocking in Asher's own mind.

"We are not here to harm you or your people human," The elite called out.

"Could of fooled me," Aduro gasped out from the elites grasp, Asher thought his name was Vardam.

Vardam growled. "We came here for the human marine." Shooting Asher a look. "And a way to gather our own people and escape this planet."

Aduro's eyes made contact with Asher, any longer and these rebels would probably fry the elites. Something needed to be done, but before Asher could step forward, Vardam spoke again this time directly to Aduro.

"Tell your men to lower their weapons."

"And why should I?" Aduro coughed. "I should have them blast you."

"Because if you do not, my special operations team that has surrounded your encampment will fire on my word or upon my or any of my brother's deaths. They will slaughter you without hesitation and leave no survivors."

So that was the missing piece of the equation. Vardam had soldiers setup just out and surrounded the camp. But whether if it was enough to truly kill everyone was to remain seen, it could simply be an over exaggerate bluff, but there was no way to prove it.

"Stop! They're friendly!" Asher shouted out, stepping forward towards the elite. "They're in a predicament just like us. Lower the plasma sword, and we can work this out."

Vardam hesitated, as if Asher would try to deceive him. Vardam stared intently at the his human ally, and released Aduro from his grasp as the plasma sword deactivated. Asher sighed in relief, hoping the situation would get better. But then some of Aduro's rebels started to shout out and yell like life itself was coming to an end. Asher looked up at the sound of thrusters in the air, and saw two bowtie shaped ships fly over head. Asher had a feeling this day was going to keep getting worse before it got better.


End file.
